Women's soccer falls to UCLA in season opener

MIAMI – Playing under threatening skies, the No. 21 nationally ranked women's soccer team (0-1) fell in its season opener against No. 3 UCLA (3-0), losing 1-0 in a game that was ended 18 minutes early due to thunderstorms that had been looming since halftime.

The loss, though disappointing, was a solid first effort for a team that was playing in its first game since graduating 10 from a 2004 squad that finished with a 19-3 record and a trip to the NCAA Final Four. In addition to those losses to graduation, Princeton was playing Friday without two returning starters: first team All-America sophomore midfielder Diana Matheson, who is with the Canadian national team this weekend, and junior defender Christina Costantino, who suffered a torn ACL several days ago which will likely keep her off the field for the rest of the season.

Despite this, and despite playing under lightning-streaked skies far from home, the Tigers played to the level that fans of last year's team would have expected.

The first half saw both teams looking a bit rusty, with both sides attempting to control the ball and get a feel for how the other had changed in the nine months since their last encounter — UCLA topped Princeton season last December in Cary, NC in the NCAA semifinals, ending the Tigers' season.

The Bruins had seven shots in the first half to Princeton's one, including four on goal. Still, the stellar Tiger back line, led by poised senior goalie Madeline Jackson senior defender Romy Trigg-Smith — the only returning starter on defense after Costantino's injury — held UCLA scoreless for the half.

"If you look at our defense, it's always a unit," a flushed Trigg-Smith said after the game. "[Sophomore defender] Melissa Whitley came up big on some one-on-one defending, and I think we played well together."

On the offensive side, the Tigers' lone shot on goal in the first half came from sophomore Ashley Beyers, as the Bruin defense stifled a Princeton offense that was clearly feeling the loss of Esmeralda Negron '05, who graduated with the all-time Tiger scoring record.

At halftime, the teams were forced to go inside and spectators to flee helplessly, as wind and rain lashed Cobb Stadium and lightning illuminated the skies above Miami. Eventually, the storm seemed to subside, and following the extended intermission, play renewed with UCLA beginning to increasingly control the game.

With 28:30 on the clock, UCLA's Mary Castelanelli sent a cross-field rocket over the heads of several Princeton defenders, and just out of the reach of a diving Jackson, finding the upper right corner of the Tiger nylon to make the score 1-0.

That would be all the Bruins would need. The lightning — which had never fully stopped — became too much to ignore. When the rain began to pour again with 18 minutes left on the clock, the officials ended the game. Since enough playing time had elapsed, the results will be counted, and the remaining time not made up.

Though any loss is difficult — particularly for a team as accustomed to winning as Princeton — there was certainly a silver lining in the quality of play against such a highly ranked opponent.

"If we can compete with UCLA," Trigg-Smith said, "then you know what, we can compete with anyone in the nation, and I think we showed that here."